Pilot Sleeps, Plane Creeps Off Course

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE — A doctor flying from Alabama to Florida fell asleep after putting his plane on automatic pilot -- then woke up over the Gulf of Mexico, 100 miles south of his destination .

Dr. J. Clayton Davie, 51, of Birmingham, took off Tuesday for Destin, a town between Pensacola and Panama City, said Lt. Ray Cornelius, a spokesman at Eglin Air Force Base.

Davie fell asleep while the plane was on automatic pilot, said Cornelius. Air traffic controllers in Jacksonville contacted Eglin after 7 a.m. and said they could not wake up the pilot.

Air Force Maj. Roy Taylor was testing an F-16 fighter and Eglin officials sent him after the pilot. An F-4 joined in the rescue effort.

The two planes saw Davie's twin-engine plane 100 miles south of Destin. He was flying at 18,000 feet and was slumped over the controls, said Cornelius.

''We had to be careful not to disturb it too much since some autopilots will automatically shut off if there's turbulence,'' said Taylor. ''We escorted him for about three to five minutes. As we were deciding what to do, the pilot woke up.''

Taylor said the ''understandably disoriented'' Davie was given the correct coordinates and escorted to the Destin airport.